I have to be honest. After reading a bunch of stories about the team during the week I was prepared to sit down Saturday night and write a piece on how Paul Silas might be the first coach to go in this abbreviated NBA season.

Personally, I think that we are too quick to call for someone’s job in this league. Guys need a chance to do their job. Anything less than a full season and training camp is not enough time for anyone to show what they can really do. Yes, I know Paul started last season, but he didn’t really have much of an offseason and training camp to work with.

That being said, having watched and followed this league of ours for a few decades I know the signs, and I know that owners/GMs have no problem canning anyone at any time. Some of the things that Silas said this week made me think the end is near:

“… [The starters have] just kind of given up now. I don’t know what to say.”

When asked what he could do to get an ice cold Boris Diaw going: “I really don’t know.”

“We’ve got to have more toughness and we didn’t (Friday). It’s just not a good sign for us.”

Overall, the stuff he said can be viewed as just him being honest about how he feels. What bothered me is that he sounded like he was/had given up. A coach that wants to stay employed is not going to bad-mouth his team too much. What he said along those lines I can live with, but it’s the frequency that he admits to not knowing that tells me he could be going soon.

If—when—the lockout does end and the season begins the Charlotte Bobcats could end up being one of the more exciting teams to watch. Considering that the team has been under .500 more than it has been over during its short NBA life, that may seem hard to believe, but it is.

Last season the team did something that is very hard for any team to do. It had tucked its tail between its proverbial legs and dealt away the team’s top talent.

Sound crazy? On the surface, maybe it is. In reality, the moves that were made could not have been better for the future of the team.

Stephen Jackson has rekindled his relationship with pressure, well when you do what he does to it, it may not be a relationship per se but hey, he did what he did to it and the Bobcats finished on top.  He also put on the belt.  In the way of first time Super Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers and many a WWE SuperStar before him he made the motion to put on the championship belt.  Kind of over and over, like it got awkward.  I guess when you get down by 16 in the third and battle back to be down by 3 with 15 seconds left, you hit the three pointer to tie with :00.6 on the clock, yeah you can go ahead and put on the belt.

Other than the end of the game, the story was Gerald Wallace, or lack there of.  He was, in my friend Shrader’s estimation, a complete ghost.  He didn’t attempt a shot until a minute and a half into the fourth quarter and that one got blocked.  He ended the game with 7 points, 5 in the fourth, 2 in overtime.  5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks don’t make up for that antipathy towards scoring or attempting to score.  He somehow had the final shot and luckily DJ Augustin was there for the offensive rebound and kick out to Jackson for the tying bankshot.

DJ Augustin had 9 of the Bobcats’ 20 overtime points.  Seriously serious play out of the point guard.  27 points, 12 assists, 4 rebounds (including the all important to close the game) and 4 steals.  He played well against the stout Golden State backcourt on defense.  I wouldn’t attribute holding Monta Ellis below his average completely to him, but he certainly had the hands out on the perimeter to get in passing lanes and break up attempted passes.  DJ is really impressive under Silas.  You can tell he is one of those flow of the game/confidence guys who need the freedom that Silas allows.  Larry Brown taught him certain fundamentals, sure but the halting practice and minescule adjustments and working every play through to its completion, regardless of outcome, all added up to DJ Augustin not living up to his full potential under Brown and the team suffered.

Look at all of these rumors surrounding me every day… But it’s not everyday that you hear one that is as juicy ( and ridiculously lopsided in favor of the Bobcats ) as this one.

ESPN

The Denver Nuggets are having serious discussions about a four-way trade that would land Carmelo Anthony with the New Jersey Nets, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

The proposed deal, sources said, also would involve the Utah Jazz and the Charlotte Bobcats. It would deliver Nets rookie forward Derrick Favors, Jazz veteran Andrei Kirilenko and multiple first-round picks to Denver in exchange for their franchise player, potentially bringing a resolution to Anthony’s uncertain future before the Nuggets hold their first practice of the new season.

Sources told ESPN.com that the deal, which has yet to be finalized, also would send former All-Star point guard Devin Harris to Charlotte, with Bobcats forward Boris Diaw moving to Utah.

The four teams, said one source close to the talks, are “seriously engaged” after extensive talks Thursday.

We are keeping our ears open for anything else that we hear on this potential deal and we promise that we will provide updates as soon as we hear anything.

The members of our forum are salivating at the possibility of this deal happening.

How do you feel about it?

Hi everyone, As you can see we’ve spruced the place up a little with a fresh coat of paint. Take a look around our blog and also our forums to check out the new layout. we hope you like it. Now on to the linkage.

Charlotte Observer – Rick Bonnell questions where all of the Charlotte Bobcats fan negativity is coming from

Hoopsnotes.com – I desperately need a french speaking person to take a look at the video at this link and explain to me why Boris Diaw is parading around France in a costume that looks like some kind of Drunken Toucan

BCP Forums – Discussing DJ Augustin as Charlotte’s starting Point guard this season

TruthAboutIt.net – has an excellent blog on how a large chunk of the Bobcats roster is made up of former Washington Wizards

There are players Wizards fans used to root for, one player they flat-out hate, and a former player/president turned owner who sparks feelings of ambivalence.  No matter what the emotion, the Bobcats are definitely must-see-TV for Wizards fans.But there is one team in the Southeast Division, that arguably has the distinction of having the most interesting collection of ex-Wizards:  The Charlotte Bobcats.

That’s all for now, hope that your Sunday Morning dump was good for you.